Expectations and Suppositions

Chapter 6

XXX

I feel his mind and body behind me. He isn't sure what to think. His mind hummed of internal conflict. The threat of Divergent's was long ago ruled inconsequential. If there were Divergents, they seemed to live silently and peacefully enough within the system. There was no reason to hunt something that effected fewer than one percent of the population, if that.

But Jeanine was different. Once she got an idea, there was no breaking it out of her. A Divergent would be the ultimate lab rat. If Jeanine had made me Divergent, and she knew… she would go to the ends of Hell to get me back to Erudite.

And that wasn't something that Eric was about to allow.

He felt possessive… Of the little mouse he remembered, and the woman before him. He still isn't quite sure how they are the same, but he wants to figure it out. Eric was always fiercely loyal to Simon and myself, even if he didn't want to admit it. In many ways we were the closest thing to a family he had growing up.

It was the same for Simon and me… Eric was family when Jeanine did not care to be.

His breath feel heavy on the back of my neck, and my skin prickles in response.

I wiggle around between him and the door to face him. He's a breath away from my face and I feel it catch him by surprise. His surprise is short lived, but not before a single thought starts to escape.

"I wonder if she…"

He gets ahold of his conscious and quickly shuts whatever he was thinking down.

Whatever he was going to say though is interrupted by his phone ringing in his pocket. He fishes it out without moving away from me.

"Yeah?" He says as he picks up. I can hear Max's voice on the other end, asking us to report to his office

"We'll be there in five minutes."

XXX

"The infirmary reports that Chad Volger sustained a broken nose, a cracked orbital, and a concussion." Max says as he hangs up the phone.

He had been on the phone with someone in the infirmary when Eric and I had entered his office. Tris and Four were also present, most likely after they got Lauren or Zeke to watch the rest of the transfers. Four and Tris stand on one side of the room, Eric on the other, and me directly in front of Max's desk.

Max is waiting for me to say something, to say Volger deserved it, or show some type of empathy for what I did to his face. I say nothing.

Max continues. "While the report I received last night didn't outright name Volger as one of your attackers, the infirmary did confirm that he was one of three transfer initiates that was treated and needed stitches last night."

Again, I say nothing.

Max smirks. "You handled yourself well. And while we aren't sure what they had planned, I doubt anyone would try and attack you again… But we won't be able to allow you to continue training with them."

Four, Tris, and Eric all begin speaking at the same time.

"Is that really necessary?" Eric says quickly.

"She didn't do anything wrong." Tris protests.

"He did attack her." Four chimes in.

Max tries waving his hand to get them to quiet down. "She'll train with the Dauntless born."

This does nothing to quiet anyone.

"They'll kill her." Tris shouts.

"She'd be at a disadvantage." Four tries to point out.

Eric just looks amused at the idiocy of it. "Really Max?"

"She wouldn't be at a disadvantage. She's already ahead of the other transfers in terms of skill. Putting her with the Dauntless born would challenge her more than staying with the transfers."

"That doesn't mean that they won't try and attack her like the transfers did." Tris points out.

I can feel Max conceded this point mentally. If I was able to best the Dauntless born, they would undoubtedly feel threatened, and their attack would be less likely to fail.

"She doesn't have to stay with them, just train with them." Max quickly decides.

I can feel the wheels tick in Eric's head now. "She could stay with me."

Four and Tris both flare in protective worry now. "That would hardly be fair Eric." Four retorts.

"She could stay with us." Tris offers.

Again, they are all bickering and a see of voices and angry thoughts. My brain feels foggy. It's starting to get crowded in here.

"She won't be staying with any of you. Any of you could be seen as providing an unfair advantage or influencing her scoring for initiation. She needs to stay with someone who has no influence on training or ranking. It has to be impartial and above reproach." Max says as he quickly picks up the phone.

"Alexis, can you please get my sister for me. Ask her to come to my office. Thank you." Max says quickly to who I assume is his secretary outside.

XXX

Max's sister, Zoe Washburne, was the head trauma nurse in the Dauntless infirmary, and Dauntless thru and thru. I could tell she ran a tight ship in the infirmary. When she entered Max's office, she greeted her brother fondly with a quick smile, before her demeanor changed into something more formal as she nodded curtly towards 'Coulter,' as she called Eric. Tris and Four received a little more warm greeting.

Zoe's back was stone stiff as Max filled her in on the situation. She may be a nurse, but she was a soldier none the less. She gave nothing away as Max talked, but did raise an eyebrow when she found out that I was the one who had sent Volger and the other transfers to the infirmary. She had been the one on call to stitch them up, and had to listen to them complain to each other about the "bitch who sliced them." Her amusement only intensified when it was explained I had been the one to send Volger back to the infirmary.

Zoe was quick to agree to allowing me the stay with her and her husband thru training.

"We'll send someone to collect your things and have them taken to Zoe's apartment." Max says at the end.

After that, everyone was quick to disperse. Tris and Four looked at me apologetically, but happy I would be staying somewhere safe thru the rest of my training. Eric looked annoyed as he left, clearly unhappy that he wouldn't be able to keep close tabs on me like he would have if I stayed with him.

"Thank you." It's the first thing I have said out loud during the entire meeting.

Max smiles warmly at me. "Before you go, I would like a word with you, privately." He says with a glance to Zoe.

She nods and leaves the room to step outside.

"I wanted to apologize." Max says as the door closes behind Zoe.

Max is cautious. He doesn't know quite what to make of me yet. But he was impressed with what he had heard so far.

"While I had imagined you would face some… difficulty, during training, I hadn't expected it to be this… eventful." He says with a small chuckle.

Honest. Max had been impressed with what he had read in Tris and Four's reports so far. Rankings weren't public yet, but I assume after today's fights I would be towards the top. I still don't know how I would be compared to the Dauntless born.

"Erudite Leader Matthews, has taken quite the interest in how this year's training is being run." He says as he stands from his desk. He moves towards me, vigilant and watchful, like a hawk.

"I'm sure she has." I say without giving much away.

"She's tried to institute no less than ten new rules to training protocol for all factions."

I inwardly groan. I had only heard of two new rules, not ten. It's curious that Max is telling me this though, and I let the surprise show minutely on my face to see if he will say more.

"While I can appreciate her… interest… Dauntless has its own set of rules. We will continue to push back when we can, despite her insistence." Max finishes as he stops in front of me and extends a hand for me to shake.

Again, honest. Apparently Jeanine hadn't been able to extend her reach into Dauntless. At least not thru Max. There were still other leaders I am sure she could try and sink her claws into, but knowing Max wasn't one of them was a little comforting.

I take his hand and shake it. "Sir." I say as he nods his head to dismiss me.

"I look forward to seeing what you bring to Dauntless, River." Max says as I turn and leave.

Zoe is waiting for me just on the other side, she appears to have just gotten off the phone, and I assume she called her husband to let them know they would have a house guest for the next eight weeks.

"I'll show you where you'll be staying before I have to run back to finish my shift. Wash will meet us there and can help you get settled a little more."

"Thank you." I say quietly and follow along, listening to the whispers of everyone we pass. News travelled fast in Dauntless, and I catch more than a few sideways glances from people curious to know more about all the fuss I was causing.

Zoe must catch me looking around out of the corner of her eye. "The gossip will die down soon enough. You're hardly the first to beat someone to a pulp during training." She says as we start winding our way into the residential area. "Maybe just the first female in awhile." She adds with a chuckle.

Zoe found the entire thing highly amusing. She was also more than a little intrigued that Jeanine Matthews' daughter transferred, and seemed to be excelling in my new home.

I shrug. "Nothing I'm not used to."

Zoe just continues marching straight towards our destination, not paying any mind to who is watching or listening. "I hope my brother didn't try to scare you, with his little talk."

"Why would you say that?"

"Book always was the serious type."

"Book?"

"Oh, sorry. Family nick name. Max was always a very serious child. Wanted to do everything 'by the book'."

I chuckle. I could imagine Max as a very serious child.

XXX

Zoe was in many ways the opposite of her husband, a Candor transfer, Hoban Washburne. Wash, as he asked me to call him, was one of the mechanics and drivers in the Dauntless patrol. They were an interesting pair, a study of opposites. He was gregarious where Zoe was stoic. She was graceful, where he was goofy.

They both quickly show me their apartment and the spare room. Zoe explains to Wash someone will be collecting my things for me. She dashes back to the infirmary to finish her shift, but not before giving her husband a kiss goodbye. It's in moments like that where you see why they fit together. The looks they give each other, and the pet name of lamby-toes that he calls her.

"Sorry it's not much." Wash says as we move back into the living room area. "Do you want anything to drink before they bring up your things? Water, juice, tea?"

"Tea would be great." I say as I sit at the counter in their kitchen.

We were several floors down from the floor Eric's apartment but it was just as spacious. Head trauma nurse would carry some weight with it, and I am sure Wash's position would also afford them a better housing allocation. The apartment isn't as Spartan as Eric's, it has little touches that make it feel lived in and full of memories. Pictures on the walls, mementos, and what looks like some Dinosaur statues in the bookcase. It felt homey, which was very different from anything I was used to.

"So what's the scoop on them moving you out of the training dorms?" Wash asks nonchalantly as he fills the kettle with water.

I shrug. "A few of the transfers tried to attack me last night. I beat one of them during training. Broke his face a bit."

"And they moved you out because of that?"

Again, I shrug. "They wanted to challenge me. I will be training with the Dauntless born."

"Isn't that a little extreme?" Wash asks minutely confused. He had done well in training, but had been fairly middle of the pack. He also remembers what the Dauntless born in his year were like, and knows he wouldn't have stood a chance against them during training. He was a hell of a mechanic and driver, not much of a fighter.

"Max didn't think so."

"Sounds like all kinds of wacky fun to me." He says sarcastically as the water in the kettle starts to boil and there is a rather forceful knock at the door.

I catch a string of thoughts on the other side, ones that are not happy.

But before I can say anything, or move to answer the door myself, Wash moves quickly to open it. "That must be your stuff."

He's met with the very grumpy Eric, holding a box of things.

Wash's mind is completely taken aback as to why Eric Coulter of all people would be at his door. "Eh, can I help you Coulter?" Wash asks confused.

"I brought her things." Eric says as he shoves them towards Wash and sidesteps him to enter the apartment.

"Uh, sure come on in then." Wash says mildly disgruntled.

Eric pays him no attention and moves directly to me. "We need to talk." He says as he finally seems to acknowledge Wash and gives him a look that tells him to leave, even thought it's Wash's home and not Eric's.

Wash tries to ignore Eric as he stands there and looks between the two of us.

"Alone." Eric retorts.

I look over to Wash apologetically and he throws me an understanding, albeit, mildly confused smile and nod. "I'll just go put these in the spare room. Play with my dinosaurs while I am at it."

I smile in appreciation as he walks past us carrying my things. When I hear the door click behind him, I turn back to Eric.

XXX

AN: I hope everyone is staying safe and healthy during this time. I have been more than a little off as a result of everything going on in the world, and work has actually been extremely stressful during this time. Updates may be sporadic, but I am trying. Hope you enjoyed this update and the addition of a few familiar faces (more to come). Stay safe!